So I do still exist, but I've been taking a break from writing for a while. However, I just watched Pride and Prejudice and I got a stroke of inspiration that I couldn't tamp down. This oneshot is meant to be a sort of letter from Hans that mirrors Mr. Darcy's letter to Elizabeth. I took some liberties with the story, but for the most part I consider it cannon to the movies, with a lot of unseen things going on in the background. It should explain everything, but feel free to ask questions and I might revise if anything is too confusing. Anyway, I did steal a few things directly from his letter in the book; I do not own Pride and Prejudice or Frozen. I hope everyone enjoys this slightly different take on Helsa ~
"Be not alarmed, My Dearest Queen, upon receiving this letter or fear what it might contain. I have no intentions of restating my most ardent affections that were so repulsive to you during my own coronation at the Southern Isles. I do not wish to pain you with such repetition, nor humble myself by bringing up that which cannot be forgotten soon enough by either party. My effort in writing such a letter might have been spared, had my character not demanded your perusal of it, yet I find myself demanding your attention. You must forgive my forthrightness and continued attention, it is only out of necessity that I put pen to paper in order to remove said blemishes you laid charge against my character.
It is well known that my actions in Arendelle during your coronation were quite deplorable; and yet the truth was revealed that a terrible curse had taken hold of my mind and drove me to actions that I was not aware of at the time. I feel it is only fair that I do not bother to repeat my defense in those regards, as I have already issued an apology for said events that I had no control over. It was two particular charges, by no means of equal magnitude, which you laid against me I feel the need to address. The first brought to my attention was that, upon discovering Kristoff to be the lost prince of the Southern Isles, and regardless to the sentiments of either, I forcefully removed my newly discovered half-brother from Arendelle and Princess Anna's attendance.
The second, and far more grievous than the first, is in regards to my half-brother Caleb who had since taken the crown of the Southern Isles. The accusation that I, in defiance of birthright, of honor and humanity, willfully destroyed the prosperity of the crown, drove my righteous brother from his throne and took it for myself in order to have a kingdom to rule. To have wantonly thrown off the companion of my youth, a man who was in many ways, like a father to me when my own father fell so short, a young man who gave his life to the preservation of our kingdom and the welfare of our people. While these charges might have befallen me due to my actions nearly two years prior to this when I first visited Arendelle, I must state once more as I have countless times, those were not the actions of my own healthy mind. They were in fact a curse laid upon my by the rather horrible little stone creatures that were intent upon separating me from your sister. Perhaps the only good that came from such a curse was the success they had in their original intentions. However, such actions as you have laid against me would be a depravity to which the separation of two young persons whose affections could be the growth of only a few weeks, could bear no comparison.
In regards to the severity of the blame which was so liberally bestowed upon your visit of my own kingdom, respecting each circumstance, I hold every intention of clearing my name to at least the repulsion which was named against me in your considerable wrath. If, in the explanation which is due to myself, I am in the necessity of relating feelings which you may find contrary to your own, I can only say that I am sorry. It is a rule of etiquette which must be obeyed - though further apology would be absurd.
I had not long learned of Kristoff's true identity before I took notice of his most unwavering attention in your sister. And while we spared such time to spend in your kingdom as you fumbled about learning how to perform your duties as queen most inadequately, I became aware of just how attached he had become to Princess Anna. Yet still, it was not until the night of the Midsummer Ball that I had any apprehension of his feeling a serious attachment - he is not the most talkative of sorts and my other brothers are keen on falling in love only to be bored by the next week. At that ball, where I first met success in gaining a dance with you, I was first made acquainted with the accidental information that Kristoff's attentions towards your sister had given rise to a general expectation of their marriage. Kristoff himself spoke of it as a certain event, one which only needed the time to be decided.
From that moment I observed my brother's behavior attentively; and then I could perceive that his partiality for the Princess was something far more serious than my other brothers had displayed previously. It became clear that it was not a matter of politics - Kristoff is far from the sort to have a head for such things - nor was it a matter of a mere pretty face turning a head. This was something I had not yet experienced in my watchful attendance of my brother's sordid affairs. Your sister I also watched, knowing her well enough. Her look and manners were open, cheerful and engaging as ever, but without any symptom of lasting regard, a folly I know perhaps too well myself. I remained convinced from the evening's scrutiny, that though she received his attentions with pleasure, and to some extent returned them, she held no sentiments that might last over the trials of time.
If indeed you are correct in the truth of her affections, I must have been in an error. Your superior knowledge - to some extent - of your sister make the latter probable. If this is the truth, I have been misled by said error to inflict pain on her and in such, your resentment is not unreasonable. I might add that I did not believe her to be indifferent because I so desired it - I believed it on impartial conviction, as truly as I wished it in reason. And still my concerns in regards to the marriage were not merely what I have already stated. I heard from your own lips at the Midsummer ball you speak on behalf of such a connection to the Southern Isles and the good it would do for Arendelle. The idea that an intimate connection as marriage be formed for such an indifferent reason left me with an overwhelming desire to protect the man that had quickly become not just a brother, but a close confidant of mine.
In truth, it was my actions that ushered Kristoff to the Southern Isles so soon after, and it was my own words which persuaded him to believe that Anna's affections were not nearly so strong as his and she felt little for him. While my newest brother thinks highly of your sister, he has a great sense of natural modesty. To convince him, therefore, that he had deceived himself on the matter of Princess Anna's affections was no great feat. To persuade him against returning to Arendelle, when that conviction had been given, was scarcely the work of a moment. I cannot blame myself for having done thus much. It is done, and it was done for the best. On this subject I have nothing more to say, no other apology to offer. If I have wounded your sister's feelings once more, it was unwittingly done; and though the motives which governed me may to you very naturally appear insufficient, I have not yet learnt to condemn them.
With respect to that other, more weighty accusation, of having removed my own brother from his throne, I can only refute it by laying before you the whole of his actions against my country. Of what particular rumors you might have heard, I am ignorant, though my imagination can easily conjure up what you might assume of my intentions. Yet the truth of what I am about to relate, I can summon more than one witness of undoubted veracity. Allow me to begin, and I beseech you to take heed of my words.
My father took ill close to the time that I came into being. As such, with Caleb being the eldest of us, he was naturally the one to approach the role of fatherhood with those of us that were younger. His hand was often heavy, and he cared little for me as I was the youngest and supposedly cursed with the most unlucky number of thirteen. It was, according to my brothers, because of my existence that my father took ill. It is of my belief that they searched for a cause of their loss, and my presence was an easy target. Make no mistake, I by no means write this letter in order to garner your pity - I have no such need or want. I merely wish to display my brother's own cruelty which was apparent from the time I was a mere child. We were never close, though he may tell another story should you ever hear him speak.
He took the throne when I was still just a child, and to the greatest of my knowledge, he was a just king. I was, after all, a child under his own care with no knowledge of the outside world. As I grew older, I would come to learn that his cruelty extended towards the kingdom as well. I come from a land of wealth, full of rich resources and healthy land which is ripe for a good harvest. How is then, that we have streets lined with beggars and merchants that cannot afford to buy a loaf of bread? My people were heavily taxed - to the extent that they could hardly survive on the plentiful resources of the land around them.
I had originally travelled to Arendelle in hopes of securing your hand in marriage and using that alliance to give my people a better life. As king, even of a different country, I would have more sway than merely the thirteenth prince. Yet you know the events that followed, the plans that took such drastic turns according to my infinitely troublesome curse. I returned home empty handed, yet a different man. Looking upon things in a new light, I took heed to my brother's injustices and eventually brought them to the attentions of the high court and my own brothers. Though it has been a painstaking and long process, it eventually ended when Caleb made an attempt on my life, trying to thwart my plans. It was then that I made the heavy decision of banishment for my brother, and was chosen by my elders to take the throne, much to my surprise. You see as none of them had ever the strength or courage to face my brother and state his wrongdoings, they elected me as the one to take the throne.
My actions have many times had questionable intentions. Yet I must assure you most ardently, that I did this with only concern for The Southern Isles. I take the throne now with a heavy heart, facing many such accusations as your own. This, my dearest Queen Elsa, is a faithful narrative of every event we have been concerned together; and if you do not absolutely reject it as false, you will, I hope, acquit me henceforth of cruelty towards my brothers. You may possibly wonder why this was not told to you while you still graced the shores of what is now my kingdom. But I was not then master enough of myself to know what could or ought to be revealed. If your abhorrence of me should make my assertions valueless, you cannot be prevented from consulting in the trusted counsel of my brother, Kristoff, whom I send with this letter in hopes of repairing some form of relationship between the Southern Isles and Arendelle.
Furthermore, I do assure you that I shall refrain from disgracing you with my presence ever again. I shall only wish you a long and happy reign, and pray that the gods may bless you and your kingdom.
Faithfully,
King Hans Westergaard, of the Southern Isles."
